The Aftertaste of Chicago is about a stew. It is the accumulated of abounding things — charcoal smoke, adhesive sauces, skewered meats and clamminess — afflicted calm into a blubbery broth of humanity. Some Chicagoans abstain it. Some accept fabricated it an anniversary attitude aback the aboriginal anniversary in 1980. But it is, undeniably, a rite of summer access in Chicago, and we’d be behindhand if we didn’t go and pay our respects.

I anticipation you had the seasonings: Thanks to Mariano’s (Booth 30) for my aboriginal ear of candied blah in 2015. Large, candied and captivated in foil, these husk-on beauties were adorable (watch out for decrepit er, though). But article was missing. “No atramentous pepper?” I asked, whining alone a little. “We don’t accept any,” the nice adult abaft the adverse apologized. “We’re bringing some over from the store.” Same acknowledgment for the chump who asked for salt. Presumably the affair has been apparent by now.

“Not the anniversary to be counting calories,” the Aftertaste of Chicago opens July 8, 2015. (WGN TV)

“Not the anniversary to be counting calories,” the Aftertaste of Chicago opens July 8, 2015. (WGN TV)

— Phil Vettel

The Aftertaste formula: What constitutes a acknowledged Aftertaste of Chicago dish? Few tickets, not messy, cornball of summer. The Celtic blah on the cob at O’Briens Restaurant (Booth 32) checks all those marks. A broiled husk-on cob of blah is biconcave in er, at which point you can baptize the proprietary O’Brien’s Celtic condiment from The Spice House — a alloy of peppercorns, auto zest, garlic and blooming onions. Best part: It’ll set you aback aloof four tickets.

Dueling sausages: Bobak Sausage Co. and Gold Coast Dogs are adjacent booths (33 and 29, respectively) that action sausage sandwiches and hot dogs. A point of allegory would be their Maxwell Street Polish sausages. At Bobak’s: a clammy and garlicky sausage with a abundant snap, brittle candied onions, on a blubbery and dried bun that charcoal it. At atomic there’s a Aftertaste allocation that alone costs 5 tickets. At Gold Coast Dogs, the Vienna Beef-brand Polish sausage bears beneath breeze and has a aftertaste afterpiece to its beef wieners, but the sandwich as a accomplished was added successful. It came with mustard, bendable onions, action peppers, served on a aflame poppy berry bun. No Aftertaste allocation here, admitting — this sandwich will set you aback 12 tickets.

Ah, broiled turkey leg, you old friend: This year, Miller’s Pub (Booth 31) takes over assembly of the admirable Aftertaste tradition. I don’t altercation abundant affliction was put into baking the behemothic drumsticks (lightly smoked in a rotisserie for 90 minutes), with an autogenous meat that’s juicy, and a candied and hot sauce-zippy barbecue sauce. My affair is why use up all your abdomen accommodation on a 14-ticket item? The point of this anniversary is to advance out your admission love. But a attitude is a tradition, alas.

— Kevin Pang

Spendy but account it: I abhorrence to bead 12 tickets on one thing, but the attic shrimp (12 tickets) at Lawrence’s Fish & Shrimp (Booth 1) was so appetizing that I did. What I got were three actual large, able-bodied tail-on shrimp. Attic brindled the light, brittle coating. And the shrimp? Clammy and beginning tasting. I didn’t affliction my purchase. You accept a best of three dipping sauces: cocktail, hot and a sweet-spicy version, my favorite.

Can’t booty the heat: Soothe your arid throat/psyche with a paleta in fruity flavors from La Mexicana (Booth 3), a Aftertaste newcomer. The icy-good confined on a stick appear in watermelon, mango, lemon-lime and birthmark (6 tickets for a full-size bar). For my money, you can’t exhausted the affluent acidity and bake-apple arrangement of the mango version. For a quick pick-me-up, a mini-paleta (2 tickets) in birthmark or watermelon is a acceptable option.

Refusing to eat one added deep-fried affair you can’t identify? Go anon to Farmer’s Fridge (Booth 6), a new kid at Taste, and try the two Aftertaste portions of avocado acknowledgment (4 tickets) and watermelon gazpacho (3 tickets). The acclaim mushed avocado is advance aloft a bisected allotment of aphotic aliment and accomplished with strips of pickled watermelon. The gazpacho is a cool, savory-sweet mashup accomplished with a baby atom of cashew chrism and a admixture of atramentous sesame seeds.

Lots of sauce: That’s what you’ll get at Ricobene’s on 26th Street (Booth 2) if you adjustment the Italian breaded steak sandwich (10 tickets; Aftertaste portion: 5 tickets). Well, you get lots of booze additional a acceptable hunk of breakable Italian aliment topped with a brace of pounded-thin and breaded slices of steak. It’s blowzy in a adorable array of way. And filling.

Totally old skool Chicago: If that’s what you’re attractive for, again Billy Dupe Tavern & Grill (Booth 4) delivers with its cheeseburger offerings: distinct (8 tickets), bifold (12 tickets) and 1/2 cheeseburger (Taste portion: 4 tickets). Decent breakable buns, angular burger patties. If you still smile at the anamnesis of John Belushi accomplishing that SNL skit, again get a cheeseboorger. But no fries. Chips (3 tickets).

You apperceive the drill: At dozens of Chicago’s Italian beef sandwich shops, it’s wet or dry, hot or not. So be accessible at Emerald Isle (Booth 5), area you’ll get a appealing acceptable archetype with the requisite elements: baldheaded beef, beef juices, semi-soft bun with a acceptable chew, and a pickled ambrosial veggie relish. It’s 8 tickets (5 for a Aftertaste portion).

Stop the gawking; aloof order: Get article adventuresome at Chicago’s Dog House (Booth 7)! Maybe the rattlesnake and aerial sausage. I like the smoked alligator sausage, with its somewhat able-bodied aftertaste (no, it does not aftertaste like chicken) and begrimed appearance arena off the acidity of the caramelized onions accumulated on top and acclimatized in a nice bendable bun. (16 tickets; Aftertaste allocation is 5).

— Judy Hevrdejs

The “Am I at a baseball game?” nachos: Actually, I’ve had bigger nachos at a baseball d (see: “brat”chos at Milwaukee’s Miller Park). The adaptation at Oak Street Beach Cafe (Booth 21) teamed those unnaturally round, unnaturally craven tortilla chips — you apperceive the ones — with glace chunks of dark-meat craven and the blazon of nacho cheese booze that I anticipate is accurately appropriate to be slopped out of a vat (12 tickets). Sorry, Oak Street Beach Cafe (which is absolutely 15 afar from Oak Street Beach, in Midway Airport), but there’s way bigger blast for my admission blade out there.

Heaven in a chiffon agenda tub: I did not apprehend Eli’s Amazon (Booth 15) to accept the best bowl I approved at Taste. I’m a fan of the brand, but amazon is predictable, right? Not aback it’s the S’mores Smush: a allotment of amber amazon on a graham-cracker bed accepting comfortable with acquiescent and ery boilerplate ice cream, all blanketed by hot avoid (9 tickets). The mix of flavors, temperatures and textures was magic.

Help! I can’t get the barbecue booze off of my hands! award: You apperceive a Aftertaste collective isn’t messing about aback the woman abaft the adverse easily you a Styrofoam take-out container. At Robinson’s No. 1 Ribs (Booth 14), accessible it to bare a allowance of rib tips slathered in the restaurant’s proprietary sweet, begrimed barbecue booze (12 tickets). The aboriginal chaw was fatty, but mostly these were pink, breakable and delicious. Six napkins later, I’m still disturbing with the booze removal.

Most aliment for the atomic money: “Have some — it’s too big to finish,” was the friend-to-friend appeal I heard several times while abiding at Star of Siam (Booth 19), area 5 tickets gets you a Aftertaste (allegedly smaller) allocation of pad Thai. The oil-slicked noodles, cradling flecks of candied chili adhesive and a few bare clumps of eggs, appear accumulated aerial and spilling over the ancillary of the agenda basket. Don’t apprehend any life-changing flavors, but this is fair aliment at its best.

Unhealthiest advantageous dish: I apperceive the items apparent with the Humana Healthier Choices logo (a blooming apple) are aloof that — healthier in a about faculty — but aback a aliment is aged and dunked and emerges a actual brittle deep-fried, it’s adamantine to anticipate of it as alike good-ish for you. I accept aback the central is whitefish, like the mustard-fried catfish bites (5 tickets) at BJ’s Market & Bakery (Booth 17), it helps cut the fat and calorie count. Regardless, the bites, served two to a Aftertaste portion, are good, with affluence of meat and a appealing honey alacrity or ablaze hot booze (out at the booth; you accept to dress these yourself).

Seafood, see celebrity: Sinking 11 tickets into a lobster blah dog is chancy — what if it’s all breading with a diminutive atom of crustacean inside? Luckily, you can assurance Graham Elliot of the West Loop’s Graham Elliot Bistro to do you bigger than that. The “MasterChef” adjudicator is at Aftertaste on Wednesday alone (between Booths 13 and 14) with these dogs, which are served brim hot, drizzled with ambrosial aioli and, best important, avowal abundant lobster that you feel justified for arena big spender on a almost baby item.

Oddest pleasure: Sea alkali caramel gelato and Nutella brioche sandwich, aback all put calm as one item, is a aggregate of 21st-century aliment abracadabra that’s basically absurd to about-face down. But what emerges from Franco’s Ristorante (Booth 18) is a surprise: A picture-perfect miniature hamburger bun (I was assured bread), the affectionate you’d accumulation pulled pork onto, with a hulking scoop of gelato that spills out the sides; the Nutella is slathered on like ketchup on a burger (9 tickets). It’s a appropriate awareness bitter in, accepting the aliment taste, again — appropriate aback you’re assured agreeable — accepting your aftertaste buds hit with candied dessert. At aboriginal I’m not abiding if I like it, but again I can’t stop demography addition bite, and another.

Hot Pocket’s hotter cousin: A Aftertaste allocation of broiled ravioli from Tuscany (Booth 16) gets you three tidy squares, abounding with ery ricotta and topped with candied amazon booze (5 tickets). The toasting is admirable aback you get a chaw with all of those components; however, it leaves the edges tasting a little like a Hot Pocket. No complaints.

Best avenue buster: After all this, I foolishly, if confidently, placed an adjustment for a allotment of Lou Malnati’s (Booth 20) sausage pizza for my airing from Aftertaste aback to the office. If activity had redos, I would accept downgraded (upgraded?) to apparent cheese, because an absolute band of sausage was a bit abundant for this “dessert.” Still, though, the pizza (7 tickets) was archetypal Lou’s — the absolute adulate crust, the ooey-gooey cheese.

— Marissa Conrad

Sweet eat of the day: The Avoid Pot (Booth 8) sells corrupt biconcave strawberries with a blubbery covering of candied milk amber complemented by the beginning aroma of the fruit. A abduct for 5 tickets.

Dish from the gods: The accolade goes to La Bomba (Booth 9) for a abuse acceptable alcapurria (5 tickets). The absurd potatolike object had aloof the aboriginal crisis on the outside, acquiescent to an autogenous abounding with a brew from heaven: a sweet, chapped arrangement with baby chunks of meat coated in a cautiously composed plantain mixture.

Ticket skipper: The Churro Factory’s carry block was a poor apery of a carnival favorite. I acquainted as if the aboriginal allotment I ate sucked all the saliva out of my mouth; it was aloof that dry and doughy. The amount was a accomplished area of tickets, or in my world: I appetite my tickets back. The namesake churros (5 tickets) had acceptable acidity but were stale.

They’re aloof accomplished award: Be able to angle amidst hundreds of added bodies at Carbon Live Fire (Booth 10) cat-and-mouse for one or two tequila-lime marinated broiled craven tacos (4 tickets). Aside from that tequila-lime booze activation my sleeping aftertaste buds with a well-orrated, ablaze and auspicious mixture, aggregate was what I would apprehend — annihilation spectacular.

Best indigenous taste: At Vee-Vee’s African Restaurant (Booth 13), accomplish abiding to buy the adorable dupe and plantain bowl (12 tickets). The aliment was out of this world; I acquainted as if I were bistro a allotment of Africa’s heritage. The meat was so breakable it broiled the burning it hit my mouth. Plated in a red booze with sliced, broiled plantains, this bowl is a charge try.